In summary : ECTA has managed to encompass all the internationally accepted general principles on e-consumer law, and only time will tell whether these will be suitable and enforceable in the South African legal environment.

Should the broker include VAT in the sum insured and should it procure an increase in the sum insured immediately upon being instructed to do so?

There has been a steady stream of decisions over the past few years concerning the duties of insurance brokers towards their clients. The decision in Luxor Paints (Pty) Ltd v Heritage Insurance Brokers (WLD 26 April 2006 (case no 04/18159) unreported) adds usefully and practically to the list of these duties.

Disputes regarding domain names in South Africa were, up to now, dealt with in the civil courts. The bases for relief were either trademark infringement or passing off. However, it is now possible to lodge a complaint against the registration of a domain name in terms of statutory provisions that allow for the resolution of a domain name dispute by an adjudicator. The particular regulations, known as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations, were issued in terms of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 ('the Act') and published on 22 November 2006 (GN R1166 Government Gazette 29405 (Reg Gaz 8587) (available at http://www.domaindisputes.co.za). The South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law ('the Institute'), which represents all the major intellectual property law firms in South Africa, played an important role in the formulation of the regulations.

Many years ago, when the credit card was still in its infancy and not widely used, the late Catherine Smith remarked that '[a] credit card, it is alleged, enables a person to buy goods he does not need, from a person he does not know, on conditions he does not understand, with money he does not have' (Catherine Smith 'Credit cards and the law' (1976) 39 THRHR 107 at 112). Some years later, Visser emphasized the importance of a credit card limit when he stated that '[a] credit card allows the holder to use a credit line for the purchase of goods and services up to a predetermined limit determined by agreement between the issuer, usually a credit institution, and the card holder' (Coenraad Visser 'The evolution of electronic payment systems' (1989) 1 SA Mercantile LJ 189 at 197).

In a country thirsty for economic development, the correction of past injustices, and the optimal utilization of our available natural resources, the conducting of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) has come to play a crucial role in protecting and conserving our natural resource base while allowing responsible and much-needed development. However, over the past ten years, EIAs have also been severely criticized for frustrating development by causing unnecessary delays and creating unreasonable barriers. Yet a careful analysis shows that the flaws lie not in the EIA process but in its poor administrative enforcement by various people. These include certain officials who lack capacity or experience, certain EIA consultants who do not understand the process sufficiently, certain developers who seek to avoid transparent assessment at every opportunity, and competitors and others with vested interests who have used the EIA process to stop development for reasons not associated with environmental protection or conservation.

In Fielding v Jacobs NO & another (2005 JDR 1445 (C)), the trial court had held, arguably quite correctly and in line with recent authority, that an extension clause in a motor-vehicle insurance contract was a stipulation between the insurer and the insured owner in favour of the authorized driver as a third party. That was not contradicted by the fact that the stipulation contained a procedural arrangement that only the insured could claim against the insurer and that the third party's rights against the insurer therefore had to be enforced by the insured for and on behalf of the third party. (In short, the third party has a legal right to indemnification, but no locus standi or capacity to enforce that right against the insurer.)

It often happens in the musical world that two people together create a song - the one writes the lyrics, the other, the music. Well-known examples are Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Bernie Taupin and Elton John. The copyright in the lyrics is not protected as part of the musical work but subsists independently in the lyrics as a literary work (s 1(1) of the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 ('the Act') sv 'literary work' and 'musical work', respectively).

The Cape High Court recently heard the matter between Stander & others v Schwulst & others (CPD (case no 6375/07 and 12461/07) unreported). In the main case the four applicants (the living major beneficiaries of the Jilelf Edwards Trust) sought the removal of the first three respondents as trustees of the trust. The three trustees then applied for an order which would permit them to draw on the trust to fund the defence of the application for their removal (called 'the costs application' by the court), which application was followed by a further application that the three trustees be granted leave to intervene jointly as a further respondent in the application for their removal (called the 'intervention application' by the court).

The recent judgment by the Competition Appeal Court in Sasol Oil (Pty) Ltd v Nationwide Poles CC 2006 (3) SA 400 (CAC) is now the leading decision on prohibited price discrimination. Here I shall analyse the approach and decision of the court.